Weddings, Vintage, Poetry & Ponderings!

Main menu

Tag Archives: style

Post navigation

Walking past bridal gown designer Caroline Castigliano‘s Central London store on Berners Street is always an exciting experience. The dresses in the window always make me stop and stare but, being a lover of vintage bridal designs, I often find her elegant gowns too modern for my tastes. Until today.

The vintage-inspired gown seen below took my breath away. I love lace, sparkle and sleeves and this one has all three (thank you Princess Kate for starting the sleeved trend again!)… Despite the fact that marriage will never be in my future, when I see a dress like this one, I feel a wistful pang (sad and pathetic, I know):

Caroline Castigliano Bridal Gown - Berners Street Window Display

Caroline Castigliano Wedding Gown - Vintage Style

The dress was difficult to photograph through a glass window but I’ve blown up sections of the image and added colour effects to try to bring out some of the gown’s intricate, gorgeous detail:

Caroline Castigliano Gown - Amazing Detail!

The above images don’t do the dress justice but I tried my best! Whichever brides may get to wear this stunning gown are very lucky indeed. Wishing you all a beautiful wedding and a blessed future.

This weekend saw Etsy UK’s first ever wedding event in London – an interactive, vintage-themed exhibition for those looking for creative ideas for their big day.

Held at Gallery Soho, the intimate setting boasted two floors of gorgeous fashion, stationery, jewellery, home furnishings and craft workshops. There was something for everyone, from Hollywood-siren oppulence in the form of a show-stopping, sequin-covered, gold, vintage gown to the endearing charm of handmade cushions, adorable wedding cake toppers and button-decorated, pastel-coloured bouquets.

For vintage lovers like myself, it was an intoxicating way to spend my Saturday morning, putting me in a joyful mood for the rest of the day.

The downstairs showed off a range of wares from Etsy sellers and there was a free hair consultation and styling session for any girl wanting to see which vintage look would be the most flattering at her pending nuptials. Like a magpie, I found myself drawn to the sparkly antique hair pins and rhinestone combs being used to create the beautiful styles. Art deco hair accessories are definitely the most impressive but, let’s face it, if it gleams and sparkles, you can’t go wrong!

The upper level of the gallery heaved with gushing future brides eager to try their hands at the craft workshops being offered by Parapluie Events. Armed with a fabulous free cocktail from St-Germain – a light, breezy concoction blending the French liqueur, Prosecco and club soda – I got to try my hand at making clay wedding favours and place settings as well as frilly, paper doily pom-poms to use as hanging decorations. The cackling heard from the photo booth provided by LookLook was testimony to how much fun was being had by all the guests.

The entire session was a blast and I walked away with not just a renewed love for vintage but also the uplifting sense of accomplishment; showing my creations to family and friends triggered a gush of compliments and admiration. Not bad for a mere £5 entry fee!

Parapluie Events are definitely worth booking for hen-dos and parties – get all your bridesmaids to help craft your wedding favours and you’re not only quids-in, you’ve also managed to involve your nearest and dearest to help create the most special day of your life!

Hopefully, Etsy UK will repeat the event next year, perhaps with a few tweaks to help drive more revenue sales. That said, everyone at the event received a fantastic goody bag – which included a special code for 15% off buys on Etsy. Given the wonderful stuff we saw on display, I imagine many will go on to use the generous discount. Etsy UK deserves to do well from this first foray into events – it was awesome fun and the quality of handmade and vintage goods on display were genuinely breathtaking.

To see more pictures and news from the event, social media users can search for #etsywed on Twitter or check out the Facebook page for EtsyUK.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again… Don’t spend full whack on bridal shoes you’ll only wear once when you can snap up a perfectly gorgeous pair from designer discount haven TK Maxx. Check out the gorgeous strappy heels from designer Pedro Garcia that have now arrived in store, featuring a sparkling diamante ring (pictured above right). These ivory heels are simply stunning – classy, understated and timeless glamour. Also in store are a luxuriously good-looking pair of gold stilleto heels from Dune (pictured above left). Embellished with golden rhinestones around the back, this stunning pair of shoes would be perfect for modern brides seeking heels that they can wear again and again. Perfect party wear, you can christen them at your wedding before rolling them out again for your work’s Christmas party!

Rosalind Miller certainly knows how to create a show-stopping cake; you’ll regularly find one of her designs gracing the pages of a magazine or showcased on a TV show. Her creativity and vision seem to know no bounds, using icing and sponge to create not just beautiful cakes but genuine works of art. My favourites are, as ever, the styles which draw upon the best of the past to create something current in the present. Nothing beats a vintage inspired wedding cake. I’m biased, of course, but it’s plainly obvious. Just look at the creations below and then you tell me… am I wrong?

I once tried those brightly coloured, elaborately patterned, lip tattoos and it got me thinking… If women could get the manufacturers, Violent Lips, to produce a delicate looking vintage lace or broderie selection, in pastels or nude, would any brides dare to wear them on their wedding day?

From a photographer’s perspective, the wedding pics would probably look like a high-end couture spread from a glossy fashion magazine. From a practical perspective, your future mother-in-law would probably run screaming from the wedding venue shouting “Stop the wedding!”. But I do like the idea of introducing vintage design into weddings in an unconventional way – just not necessarily with lip tattoos. I think my imagination needs to work harder. So… I’m thinking… Still thinking… And will let you know when I finally crack this!

The thing I admire most about the Mad Men era of women is that they had not only style and grace, they also exuded sex appeal without having to flash their bits to all and sundry. Now, I’m all for empowerment and think women should wear whatever they feel fabulous in, but even I balked at this teenage girl’s ‘cheeky’ sight!

I spotted her on an escalator in a shopping mall. She was constantly pulling down her shorts to cover her modesty. The photos show her covered bottom… Before she pulled her shorts down, I was flashed most of her naked behind. If I was a heterosexual man, I would have cried with joy. Sadly, I am not. Most worryingly, the woman in front of this girl is her mother, who seemed to have no concern for the middle aged men who were ogling her under-aged daughter.

I burned with the desire to offer the teenager a free styling session and make-over. I wouldn’t have made her look too vintage, but as she was already rocking a slightly ’70s free love image, there was a lot I could have done to make her look less provocative while remaining faithful to the era.